vastpark
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Evolve your 3D avatar
Evolver (currently in alpha) is an interesting service. It allows you to build a 3D avatar either from scratch and components or from a photograph of yourself, and export that avatar as an image, a functional 3D model in a couple of different formats (presently Maya [MA] or Kaydara 3D Data Exchange Format [FDX]), or a ready-made avatar for a number of 3D virtual environments. They've got more planned it seems, like the ability to potentially embed a little animated 3D avatar in places where you might today be using a 2D image. Think Gravatars only in 3D.
Dragonlings invade Metaplace!
Cross a government Systems-Analyst with Areae's Metaplace, and you might get dragons. At least get if you're Metaplace alpha tester "chooseareality". Areae's latest community spotlight shines upon "chooseareality" and her new game, Dragonlings. She used the Metaplace game-creation toolkit to make an adventure game where you, as a newly-hatched dragonling, must make your way through the world, learning, exploring and growing to full adulthood. "chooseareality" had tried several times to make this game and others using conventional tools, but until she'd started with Metaplace, had never been able to leap the learning curve enough to actually get a game written. Metaplace's tinting and scaling tools helped extend a few original pieces of art into the dragonling characters for the whole game.Do Metaplace, VastPark, Kongregate and others that showcase and help with the creation of player-written games popping up all over mean a new Renaissance for gaming? Finding the best games out of the hundreds we're sure to see would probably be a worthy game idea all by itself....
The future of VastPark looks bright
Sandbox virtual worlds are becoming the newest thing these days following the success of Second Life and the anticipated success of Metaplace, but VastPark has recently announced a partnership with a few companies that will serve to improve their spot among the ranks. First there was the agreement they signed with NICTA, Australia's Information and Communications Technology Research Center, and now they've formed a relationship with TurboSquid to access their catalog of over 195,000 3D models. This combined with the announcement that they'll be running their virtual economy through Twofish's economic Element engine.What's this mean for the players? It means a much more flexible economic system where you are in control of your own currencies, the value of your goods and the management of your markets. This basically means that each player-created world will have it's own economy. VastPark founder and CEO Bruce Joy explained, "This is a new step in bringing economic power to the masses. We also see it as a fundamental way for us to build value in our platform, as it allows for the creation of realistic, responsive and highly customizable virtual worlds."
Vastpark to publically release its tools on April 10th
For those of you who have been hankering after more toys to play with, Vastpark has announced the date for release of its tools as April 10th. What's included in the release? From the press notice: Browser: Similar to what we used during the stress test, but with a little more polish. Asset Publisher: Publish your content online to use in the creator. VastServer: Add real-time multiuser interaction, includes the source code. Creator: Improved function and shiny new interface In addition, the 22nd of April will see the next stress test: 'In the StressTest #1 we gave you Dark Park and Shed42. This time we're reworking Shed42 into multiple chat-zones and we've got plans on adding a bit of interactivity and individuality. This will be the first test of our new MetaWSS index. What does the MetaWSS index do? Find out more at the test. Also, during the test we will be making a public announcement concerning some exciting ways you will be able to interact with the index.' Sounds technical and sexy! We can't wait to see what the world will do with Vastpark!
Vastpark approaching open beta in April
As a recent communique to its beta testers states, Vastpark, the other virtual world development platform other than Metaplace, will enter open beta in April. As such, it's calling on its testers to provide a stress test. Now, unlike Metaplace, Vastpark requires that its creators download proprietary software to make everything work, but it plans on releasing an SDK for full user customization. Currently the software is PC-only, but a Mac version is planned.Their website shows an impressive array of screenshots and video -- when I lamented the state of what Raph Koster was showing at GDC this year, this is the sort of thing I was envisioning. Vastpark is the next logical step in the evolution of virtual worlds that Second Life pioneered. Time will tell whether it garners the same community and devotion.
RocketOn to make the Web an MMO
Or, something like that. According to its press release, RocketOn is a new company that's creating some sort of experience that spans the Web and doesn't reside in a single place. From the release: "What would it be like if people could take a virtual world with them wherever they go on the Internet?" says Steven Hoffman, CEO of ROCKETON. "The answer we came up with is a parallel experience, where players rocket through cyberspace with their avatar and interact with virtual environments on almost every website they visit."What the press release doesn't say, however, is exactly what that means. A look at the website reveals no information other than a group of colorful pictures and an email address to send applications for entering the closed alpha. I'll admit to being a bit intrigued by this, just as I was when I heard about Vastpark and Metaplace. We'll keep our eyes open.[Thanks, Eric!]
SLOZ gets new look, expands beat
SLOz.info, a fine source of Australian metaverse news for Second Life has expanded their coverage and rebranded as The Metaverse Journal. The pool of non-game Virtual Worlds/MMOs is getting larger - and deeper. While there's more going on in Second Life than ever, there's increasing interest and activity in other online worlds as well - as you've probably noticed from Massively! "The move to a wider focus came about from some reader feedback we sought. I'd be lying if said that Massively's launch didn't confirm for me the sense in that broader focus," said Cremorne
